Economic Characteristics

The level of economic and industrial development a state enjoys affects the foreign policy goals it can pursue. Generally, the more economically developed a state is, the more likely it is to play an activist role in the global political economy.

Rich states have interests that extend far beyond their borders and typically possess the means to pursue and protect them. Not coincidentally, states that enjoy industrial capabilities and extensive involvement in international trade also tend to be militarily powerful – in part because military might is a function of economic capabilities. Historically, only the world’s most scientifically sophisticated industrial economies have produced nuclear weapons, which many regard as the ultimate expression of military prowess. In this sense nuclear weapons are the result of being powerful, not its cause.

For four decades after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union stood out as superpowers precisely because they benefited from a combination of vast economic and military capabilities, including extensive nuclear weapons capabilities. This enabled both the states to practise unrestrained globalism; their "imperial reach" and interventionist behavior were seemingly unconstrained by limited wealth or resources. In fact, historically major powers (rich states) have been involved in foreign conflict more frequently than minor powers (poor states). For this reason, gross national product (GNP) is often used in combination with other factors to identify great powers, and by itself is an important element in predicting the extensiveness of states’ global interests and involvements.

Although economically advanced states are more active globally, this does not mean that their privileged circumstances dictate adventuresome policies. Rich states are often "satisfied" ones that have much to lose from the onset of revolutionary change or global instability and that usually perceive the status quo as best serving their interests. As a result, they often forge international economic policies to protect and expand their envied position at the pinnacle of the global hierarchy.

Levels of productivity and prosperity also affect the foreign policies of the poor states at the bottom of the hierarchy. Some dependent states respond to their economic weakness by complying subserviently with the wishes of the rich on whom they depend. Others rebel defiantly, sometimes succeeding (despite their disadvantaged bargaining position) in resisting the efforts by great powers to control their international behavior.

Thus generalizations about the economic foundations of states’ international political behavior often prove inaccurate. Although levels of economic development vary widely among states in the international system, they alone do not determine foreign policies. Instead, leaders’ perceptions of the opportunities and constraints that their states’ economic resources provide may more powerfully influence their foreign policy choices.